Friday, December 12, 2014

Total cloud inversion as seen from Mather Point on the South Rim of
Grand Canyon National Park, December 11, 2014 NPS photo by Michael Quinn

December 12, 2014 - GRAND CANYON, ARIZONA - The Grand Canyon, one of
the seven wonders of the natural world, became even more wondrous on
Thursday, thanks to a rare weather event. A sea of clouds filled the
chasm from the bottom up, ebbing and flowing like a seaside tide.

WATCH:Grand Canyon covered by sea of clouds in amazing weather event.

The stunning sight of the canyon filling with fog like water fills a bathtub occurred due to a total temperature inversion. “This occurs when a cold layer of air is trapped at the base of the canyon and is topped by a warmer layer,” the Washington Post reported. “On
clear, calm nights, the rate of cooling near the surface increases and,
if there is low level moisture present, condensation processes kick in
and fog forms.”

Recent rains near Arizona’s Grand Canyon
National Park, combined with a lack of winds in the ravine, produced the
necessary moisture for a total cloud inversion to develop. The fog has
enveloped much of the northern region of the Grand Canyon state, the
Associated Press reported.

The spectacular cloud cover was captured by visitors to the Grand Canyon and National Park Service employees.

Cory
Mottice of the National Weather Service told AP that the weather event
happens about once every several years, though the landmark was treated
to one last year.

The last time fog filled the ravine was December
3, 2013. The canyon is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide, and is more
than a mile deep in some places.

Mottice says the Grand Canyon will gradually clear up in the coming days. - RT.

Investors
headed for the exits amid growing fears about the Chinese economy, the
tumbling price of oil, and the prospect of another eurozone crisis
prompted by political uncertainty in Greece.The FTSE 100
finished at 6300.63 on Friday, its lowest level since 20 October. The
index was down 161 points on the day and 442 points, or 6.6%, on the
week.

It was the biggest weekly decline in percentage terms since
August 2011, when recession fears and worries about America’s debts
stalked the markets.

In Europe, Germany’s Dax fell 5% and the
Eurofirst 300 lost 5.9% over the week. Wall Street was down more than
200 points, or 1.1% on the day, by the time the London market closed on
Friday, despite better than expected US consumer confidence figures for
December.

The UK has been affected more than other markets because
of its bias towards commodity companies, which have been hit hard by
the fall in oil. Brent crude dropped 3% to just over $61 on Friday, a
five-and-a-half-year low. As recently as June, the oil price had climbed
as high as $155, but fears of a global slowdown hitting demand has seen
a slump in the price. In its latest monthly report, published on
Friday, the International Energy Authority, the world energy watchdog,
cut its forecast for demand growth in 2015 by 230,000 barrels per day to
900,000. This was the fourth time in five months it had lowered its
expectations and followed a similar prediction from oil cartel Opec
earlier in the week.

This latest market rout followed a decision on Monday by Greece’s prime minister, Antonis Samaras,
to call a snap presidential election for next week. If three rounds of
voting in the Greek parliament, the last on 29 December, fail to back
the ruling coalition’s candidate, Stavros Dimas, this could trigger a
general election. Investors fear that the far-left Syriza party, already
ahead in the polls, could win that vote and attempt to negotiate a new
debt write-off with European lenders. If key players such as Germany
fail to agree, the prospect of a breakup of the eurozone is again on the
horizon.

On Thursday, Samaras said: “Syriza has once again
brought the word Grexit [Greek exit] to the mouths of foreigners. What
Syriza says provokes fear and doubt everywhere … the markets are
reacting because the possibility of elections occurring, and Syriza
winning, is interpreted as assured catastrophe for the country.”
On
Friday, Syriza’s parliamentary spokesman, Panaghiotis Lafazanis, said
if it assumed office, the party would not only cancel the bailout
memorandum signed by Athens and its creditors, but ensure that the
troika of lenders leaves Greece.

The Athens stock market, which fell almost 13% on Tuesday after the poll announcement, lost 20% over the course of the week.

A
host of poor economic news from around the globe added to the gloomy
mood. After weak Chinese import numbers earlier in the week, China
reported a worse than expected 7.2% rise in industrial production in
November, down from 7.7% the previous month, which fuelled fears of a
slowdown in one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

In the
UK, there was an unexpected 2.2% drop in construction output in October,
compared with forecasts of a 0.7% increase and a rise of 1.8% in
September.

Russia was also in the spotlight, for the wrong
reasons. The rouble hit new lows – down 1.7% at almost 58 to the dollar –
as the twin effects of western sanctions over Ukraine and the falling
oil price raised fears about the outlook for Russia’s economy, with a 1%
hike in interest rates to 10.5% and central bank intervention failing
to halt the slide.

Markets have been supported for many months by
the extraordinary stimulus measures introduced by central banks aimed at
stimulating the flagging global economy. But the US has now finished its bond-buying programme
and at next week’s Federal Reserve meeting, analysts will be seeking
clues as to when the US central bank plans to raise interest rates.European Central Bank president Mario Draghi wants to introduce quantitative easing but faces resistance from within the bank’s board, notably from Germany.

But
Thursday’s low takeup by European banks of the ECB’s cheap loan
programme puts more pressure on Draghi to come up with an acceptable
solution. - The Guardian.

Another day of huge losses caps Dow's worst week in three years

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on December 12, 2014. Photograph by Brendan McDermid — Reuters

The U.S. market was denied its eighth-straight week of gains.

A
seven-week streak of stock market gains abruptly ended this week amid
investor concerns about the continued decline of oil prices and sluggish
European and Asian economies.

A sell-off Friday cemented the loss
with the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling 316 points, or 1.8%, to
close at 17,281. For the week, the blue clip index slid 3.7%, the worst
showing since November 2011.

The Dow Jones average has now fallen
more than 700 points since it came tantalizingly close to hitting the
18,000-point milestone just last week. The index crossed the 17,000-point mark for the first time ever in July.

Meanwhile,
the S&P 500 fell 1.6% on Friday and finished the week down by 3.5%
while the Nasdaq composite fared slightly better by dropping 1.2% for
the day and 2.7% for the week.

Yesterday, a strong November retail
report kicked off a temporary rebound that helped offset at least some
of the week’s losses. For the most part, though, the major indices were
in full treat with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 falling four out of
five days while the Nasdaq dropped three times.

Thursday also saw the price of crude oil drop below $60
for the first time since 2009, which added to investors’ concerns about
plummeting price oil and a global supply glut. Oil prices dropped again
on Friday, with both Brent crude oil and West Texas Intermediate (WTI)
crude prices falling by more than 2%. WTI finished well below $60, at
$57.70, while Brent finished the week at $61.68.Prices have dropped
more than 40% over the past six months, in part, because increased
production in the U.S. and other countries is contributing to an
oversupply. Predictions by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) that supplies will continue to outpace demand next year
has helped to depress prices even further. Also, on Friday, the
International Energy Agency cut forecasts for growth in global oil demand for the coming year.

Global stocks also took a hit this week due to sinking oil prices while massive sell-offs in China and Greece
also put a drag on foreign markets. London’s FTSE index slogged through
its worst week in three years, dropping 6.6%. Germany’s DAX fell nearly
5% for the week while the Nikkei dropped 3% despite recording gains on
Friday.

It has been a turbulent second-half of 2014 for the U.S.
market, which entered this week on a seven-week winning streak that
included a number of record finishes for the Dow Jones and S&P 500 while the Nasdaq hovered near its highest point since 2000. That followed a broad sell-off in early October that briefly erased all of the year’s gains. - Fortune.

Stock
broker Yasser Rashad said there was an immediate dip at the start of
Sunday's session over fears that share prices would continue to drop for
the rest of the week.

Wael Ziada, head of research at regional
investment giant EFG Hermes, said the drop is a knock-on effect caused
by the steep decline in oil prices. The markets in Egypt and Gulf Arab
countries "are correlated in terms of their performance because the
investor base intersects."

Oil prices have shed nearly half their
value since late June, including a 4 percent tumble Friday that left
benchmark U.S. oil prices at $57.81 a barrel, their lowest level since
May 2009, when the U.S. was still in recession.

Egypt is a net importer of oil products, therefore "we should benefit from the decline in oil prices," Ziada said.

However,
Egypt relies heavily on aid from Gulf countries to keep its economy
afloat. Any net benefit for Egypt from the decline in oil prices hinges
on the willingness of the nation's main Gulf benefactors ? Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates
and Kuwait ? to continue to help Egypt despite their declining oil
revenues.

The three have pledged to continue to help Egypt's ailing
economy.

The three oil-rich nations have pumped billions of
dollars into Egypt's emptying coffers since the overthrow last year of
Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The three view Morsi's Muslim
Brotherhood, an Islamist group, as a threat to their security.

A
Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research report published last week
said that "although GCC support may be somewhat less forthcoming at
current oil prices, enough is likely to be provided to muddle through
for now."

Besides Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Emirates, the Gulf Cooperation Council also includes Bahrain, Qatar and Oman.

In the Gulf region, markets continued to decline on Sunday.

Dubai's
stock index dropped 7.6 percent by closing Sunday, the first day of
trading for the week. Qatar lost nearly 5.9 percent at closing.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi's indexes fell more than 3 percent
each. Investors are concerned that the drop in the price of oil, which
is the backbone of Gulf economies, could lead to less government
spending and reduced economic growth.

The Dubai stock exchange has
lost 65 billion dirhams, or roughly $17.7 billion, in market value over
the past week due to the plummeting crude prices, according to
the United Arab Emirates-based The National newspaper.

Last month,
an International Monetary Fund official said that Egypt's economy had
begun to recover after nearly four years of political turmoil. The EGX30
index has shown overall gains of 28.49 percent so far this year.

The
government aims to attract investment by hosting a three-day
international economic conference in March. It recently partially lifted
fuel subsidies and is pursuing revenue-enhancing measures aimed at
deficit reduction. - ABC News.

Extreme flooding in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Violent
storms and heavy rainfall hit Sao Paulo in Brazil on December 10, 2014,
causing flooding and traffic chaos as authorities announced a state of
alert in some parts of the city.

Thunderstorm dumped more than
two inches of rain in only a few hours. Streets turned into flowing
rivers.

WATCH: Flooding in Sao Paulo.

Cars were swept away by flash floods in parts of the city, where
mud and debris clogged the streets.

Sao Paulo, home to around 20 million people, experienced months of the worst drought in decades.

Floods Kill Two More in Northern Greece

Greek news agencies are reporting that a further 2 people have died in floods in the country.

The
fatalities occurred in Thessaloniki and Kilkis, Central Macedonia,
northern Greece. One of the victims was a man in his 40s who was found
in the overflowing Galikos river in the Thessaloniki region. The other
victims was reportedly a passenger who died in a taxi that had crashed
into a swollen irrigation canal. The driver of the taxi managed to
escape the vehicle.

File photo: Evros river in flood in 2010. Photo: Joanna

Flooding Also Affecting Bulgaria and Turkey
Northern areas of Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey
have all experienced heavy rainfall over the last few days and river
levels in the region remain high, especially the river of Maritsa
(Evros), which flows through the 3 countries, and its tributary the
Tùndzha river, which flows through Bulgaria and Turkey. Severe flooding
has been reported in the areas arround Edirne in northern Turkey, close
to the borders with Bulgaria and Greece.

Weather Warnings in Greece
Severe weather warnings
remain in place for many regions of Greece. Although the north is still
experiencing storms, the heavy rain now appears to be affecting areas
further south.5 Flood Victims in 5 Days
Five people have now died in floods in northern Greece in the last 5 days.

On
Tuesday 09 December, a man died when his car was swept away by flood
water near the village of Lagkadikia in the Thessaloniki region.

Bulgaria Floods Prompt State of Emergency in Stara Zagora and Plovdiv Provinces

The same severe weather has been causing flooding in parts of northern Greece, where 5 people have died, and also in northern Turkey, in particular the city of Edirne.Bulgaria
The
provinces of Stara Zagora, Sliven, Haskovo, Pazardzhik, Plovdiv and
Yambol are the worst affected. A state of emergency has been declared in
municipalities in Stara Zagora and Plovdiv provinces. To make matters
worse, flooding has interrupted the water supply in the municipalities
of Svilengrad, Harmanli and Lyubimets in Haskovo province.

Several
houses in the village of Galabovo in Stara Zagora have been damaged by
the flood water of the overflowing Sazlijka River. Levels of the river
are extremely high in the area due to a controlled dam discharge.

In
other areas, residents of towns and villages can only hope river
embankments and dams hold out. Several dams across the region are
overflowing and levels of the Sazlyjka, Potoka and Maritsa rivers are
ominously high.Yambol
In Yambol province, the Kirilovo dam is threatening to overflow and flood the nearby town of Elhovo.Stara Zagora
In
Stara Zagora, dams threaten to inundate the towns or villages of
Nikolaevo, Radnevo and Kazanlak. A road between Stara Zagora and
Kazanlak has been closed due to flooding near the village of Yagoda
situated near the Tundzha river. A state of emergency in the
municipalities of Radnevo, Galabovo, Maglizh and Nikolaevo.Haskovo
In
Haskovo Province, the town of Lyubimets which lies near to the Turkish
border, is said to be flooded. Also near the Turkish border, the town of
Svilengrad is facing severe floods as levels of the Martitsa river
approach flood stage.Pazardzhik
Further upstream, levels of the Maritsa are threatening to overflow in 6 municipalities of Pazardzhik Province.Plovdiv
Meanwhile
in Plovdiv Province, the Potoka river has burst its banks and flooded
parts of Saedinenie. Several dams are also said to be close to
overflowing in the region.
Focus News Agency said:

“A
State of emergency has been declared in Saedinenie Municipality over
the complicated situation caused by heavy precipitation,” said Mayor of
the municipality Georgi Rumenov.The
measure was needed after 4 dams in the region began to overflow and the
Potoka River that passes through the town started to rise. A high
number of houses have now been flooded. A crisis staff in the
municipality is monitoring the situation.

This report was written with input from Nikolay Valchev, Institute of Oceanology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Strong
winds across northern California and Oregon knocked out power to tens
of thousands of homes, disrupted flights and forced schools to close.
One man died as a result of a falling tree in Oregon. A young boy was
injured after the storm knocked down a tree near a school in city of
Santa Cruz, California.

Floods and high winds caused widespread
problems for roads and the transport system around San Francisco. The
westbound lanes of Interstate 280 in the East Bay suburb of El Cerrito
were particularly badly affected.

There have been reports of several cars becoming trapped in the floods, including 3 cars in an underpass in the Berkley area:

Daniel Villareal @KRON4DVillareal

There are 3 cars underwater in this pic on Ashby at I-80 can you spot them? @kron4news #BayAreaStorm

10:45 PM - 11 Dec 2014

J Ortega @JibbyOrtega

@NorthBayNews and @kron4news this is Elsie Allen High School at the moment! #BayAreaStorm #StormWatch

1:26 AM - 12 Dec 2014

River Levels

Over 24 hours of heavy rain has increased river levels in some areas.
Levels of the Russian, Sacramento and Eel rivers all approaching or
above flood stage.

Flood warnings are in place for Russian
River at Johnsons Beach near Guerneville, the Navarro River in Mendocino
County, and several areas for the Upper Sacramento River System,
including at the Red Bluff Diversion Dam and Hamilton City.

Several NWS flood and flash flood warnings are in place for today, Friday 12 December 2014.

Flash flood warnings remain in place for Ventura County, especially near the Springs Burn Area.

Around Sacramento, flash flood warnings are in place for today for the burn areas of El Dorado and Placer counties.

Flooding has been reported in Monterey County, including the city of
Gorda, and along Highway 1 from Big Sur southward to San Luis Obispo
County.

Storm Heads South

The storm is now expected to move south and flood warnings have been
issued for Santa Barbara County, where rainfall of 1 to 2 inches per
hour has been forecast for the early hours of Friday 12 December.

December 12, 2014 - BANGLADESH
- Bangladeshi villagers using sponges, shovels and even spoons worked
Friday to clean up a huge oil spill in a protected area that is home to
rare dolphins, after environmentalists warned of an ecological
"catastrophe".

Thousands of litres of oil have spilt into the protected Sundarbans mangrove area, home to rare Irrawaddy and Ganges dolphins, after a tanker collided with another vessel on Tuesday.

The government has sent a ship carrying oil dispersants to the area,
which is inside one of three sanctuaries set up for the dolphins.

But environmentalists say the chemicals could harm the delicate ecology of the Sundarbans,a UNESCO world heritage site.

As authorities debated whether to deploy the dispersants, the company
that owns the stricken oil tanker said it would buy up the oil that
local villagers have collected.

"It has no commercial value as
it can't be used, but we are using the offer to encourage people so that
the cleaning up process speeds up," said Rafiqul Islam Babul of the
Padma Oil Company.

"Villagers including children are going out
onto the river in boats to collect the oil floating on the water using
sponges, shovels and spoons," he said.

"Then they are putting it in small ditches on the river banks and our employees are buying it."

The head of the local port authority earlier told reporters that
fishermen would use "sponges and sacks" to collect the spilt oil, which
has already spread over an 80-kilometre (50-mile) area.

A
Bangladeshi oil-tanker lies half-submerged on December 9, 2014, after
it was hit by a cargo vessel on the Shela River in the Sundarbans in
Mongla

Amir Hosain, chief forest official of the Sundarbans, admitted that authorities were unsure about the best course of action.

"This catastrophe is unprecedented in the Sundarbans and we don't know how to tackle this," he told AFP.

"We're worried about its long-term impact, because it happened in a fragile and sensitive mangrove ecosystem."

Damage already done

Rescue vessels have now salvaged the tanker, which was carrying an
estimated 357,000 litres (77,000 gallons) of oil when it sank.

But officials
say the damage the has already been done as the slick has spread to a
second river and a network of canals in the Sundarbans, the world's
largest mangrove forest,which straddles India and Bangladesh.

Rubayat Mansur, Bangladesh head of the New York-based Wildlife
Conservation Society, said most of the oil appeared to have already
leaked out of the tanker before it was salvaged.

"I visited the
sunken trawler this morning. Only few hundred litres of oil remain
inside, so almost all the oil has spilled into the Sundarbans," he said.

Mansur said oil dispersants were "not appropriate for the mangrove ecosystem" and urged local villagers to help collect the oil from nets that have been placed in the river to contain its spread.

Spread over 10,000 square kilometres (3,800 square miles), the Sundarbans is a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site and home to hundreds of Bengal tigers.The delta comprises a network of rivers and canals.

Mansur said Bangladesh's coastal areas including the Sundarbans were the "largest known home" of the Irrawaddy dolphins.

"Irrawaddy Dolphins can be found in South East Asia. But their
population size is very small compared to Bangladesh," said Mansur.

Bangladesh set up sanctuaries in the Sundarbans in 2011 after studies
showed that there were hundreds of endangered Irrawaddy and Ganges river
dolphins there.

Fishing is banned in the area, but tankers and other boats are allowed to pass through.

The Irrawaddy and Ganges dolphins are both on the warning "red list" of
the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which says
numbers are falling. - PHYS.